The long-awaited word.....

P

pegh

Registered Users (C)
.....approved!

I am a derivative applicant to my husband's EB-2 petition and my case got complicated by FP issues. Our files got separated...he got his plastic card last May but my case had dragged on....

Details:

RD: sometime November 2001
FP1: May 2002
FP2: July 2002 (not an expiration issue, obviously!)
TD (to Baltimore): April 2003
FP3: May 2003 (local center requested this, but later it turned out that even if this was a manual FP, they still couldn't read my prints!)
ID (at Baltimore): 9/10/03 (this would not have been scheduled if we had not gone to Baltimore in June to inquire why I still had no interview scheduled!)

IIO told me I had to get a clearance because my FPs were not readable. But he asked me to sign the white slip (for the GC), took my I-94, asked me for pictures and told me I was essentially done except for the clearance.

Clearance took about 2 weeks. I submitted it first week of October and have been waiting since then. About two weeks ago, my lawyer told me he would write a letter to the INS. I don't know if this made a difference (don't even know if he actually sent the letter already!) but today I received a letter from the Baltimore office telling me I was approved and that my card would be issued to me from Vermont "in 9-12 months" (hoping it will be much sooner, of course!) Meanwhile, I could go get my PP stamped if I needed proof of my permanent residency. Since my EAD is about to expire, I will definitely go to Baltimore to get my stamp!

The long journey is almost over! Through many obstacles, since 11/1998, I think I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel!

I'm grateful to this forum and the many insights and advice I've been given. I'll continue to visit regularly and hope I can help and encourage others!

This is going to be a very special holiday season for my family!
 
Pegh,
I am in a similar situation as yours - I have submitted my police clearance certificates and I am waiting for a reply. Do you know what process happens after submitting the certificate ? Is there more clearance work ? Looks like you had to wait 2 months after you sent them the certificates - do you know what the wait was for ?
Thanks
culfee
 
Hi Culfee,

I don't know why it took them so long to issue the approval after I submitted the police clearance. At that point, I honestly think it depends on the officer handling your case. If he immediately acted on the clearance you submitted, there is no reason to wait that many months.

In fact, on 11/21, because we were driving up to PA from MD, my husband and I made a side trip to Baltimore and went to inquire about my case. I was told "No decision has been made yet in this case". I was quite baffled, really, because as far as I knew, there were no "decisions" that were left. The IIO told me at the end of my interview that essentially, I was "done" except for the clearance, and the clearance was okay.

So I think maybe my clearance just got filed somewhere until the IIO picked it up. For one thing, I was given 3 months to get the clearance (as if anyone in our situation would wait that long before going to get the clearance!) And the deadline in the original paperwork given to me during the interview was until 12/10. So my guess is that the IIO probably filed my folder somewhere with a note to wait until one week or so after the deadline to see if I had submitted the clearance. That would coincide with the timeframe of 12/18 which was the date of the approval letter.

So in summary, I think there is really no wait-time, but it depends on whether the officer in your case immediately acts on your submission or not. (This is only my guess but I think it is reasonable considering the circumstances!)

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the information, Pegh.
Unfortunately after I posted the message we received a notice for fingerprinting (2nd) for my husband. His fingerprints expired a few days after I submitted the clearance. My husband is the derivate applicant and I am the primary. Does anyone know if the primary applicant can get approved while the 2nd fingerprinting of the secondary applicant is pending ?
Thanks
Culfee
 
Update on my case!

My card arrived today!

There was no change to my online message from my original I485 notice.

Actually, I received three pieces of mail from USCIS today. Two were welcome notices, which I noticed had a new EAC-#. This is now an EAC-04 number instead of the EAC-02 # in my original I485.

I don't know when the card was ordered. It was mailed 1/23/04 and arrived today. When I opened the mailbox and saw the envelope from Vermont and felt that there was a card inside, I was tempted to lie down on the fresh snow and make a snow angel ;) !

I will update Rupnet.

Please note for those who were stamped in Baltimore, the wait time is just over a month (factoring in Christmas and New Year holidays, about one month). I was approved on 12/18. Though my PP didn't get stamped till later, the process for my card was already put in motion by 12/18 since I already had signed and fingerprinted the white card and gave pictures during my 9/10 interview. The wait from 9/10 to 12/18 was for a police clearance since they couldn't get any info from my fingerprints, despite several attempts, both electronic and by ink.

Thanks to everyone on this forum!! :)
 
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